The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, chaired the meeting of the UT Level Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Srinagar.
Administrative Secretaries of departments of Finance, Industries & Commerce, and Higher Education, besides, Director-General NIFT, MD SIDCO, and concerned officers participated in the meeting.
At the outset, a detailed presentation on the NIFT Srinagar campus and course curriculum was made by the Director NIFT Srinagar.
It was informed that the campus of NIFT Srinagar with state-of-art facilities including labs, resource center, design studio, incubator, amphitheatre, and hostels at Ompora Budgam will be completed by May, 2022. Currently, the Institute is running two courses from temporary accommodation at SIDCO Industrial Complex Rangreth.
The NIFT campus is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 325.36 crore on an expanse of 16.6 acres of land will be the biggest among the 17 such campuses in the country. Once completed, NIFT will resume functioning at full capacity with 7 dedicated departments and will enroll approximately 700 students, giving 35% reservation to the students having domicile in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
It was further informed that the construction works are nearing completion and the academic block, administrative block, auditorium, hostel building, incubation centre, and canteen block will be handed over in October 2021; whereas the rest of the infrastructure will be handed over by May 2022.
Emphasizing the need for better designs and proper branding for sustained growth of local products, the Chief Secretary asked the National Institute of Fashion Technology to take up purposeful engagement with the local artisans and self-help groups and train them in accordance with current market requirements in consultation with the Industries & Commerce Department.
Dr. Mehta urged the National Institute to establish a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for taking up J&K-specific projects for the revival of J&K’s traditional products including Namdah, Pashmina, Papermachie, tila, silk, and woodcraft.
Director-General NIFT mentioned that NIFT will be forming a team of faculty and experts from other Campuses to work on design intervention in crafts of J&K. He maintained that NIFT will also work towards training the artisans, weavers, and self-help groups in line with the Chief Secretary’s advice.
